Uzodimma and development

Last week, Imo State Governor Hope Ozodimma hosted stakeholders in his state. They came from far and near. Men and women from various fields of endeavour. A meeting of policy and practice. Public sector actors fraternized with private sector players. And Imo has a strong contingent of smart and successful people in diverse fields. An army of sophisticated people.

The governor did not mind that bringing such legion of highly exposed persons closer is tantamount to courting trouble. The stakeholders meeting was the fifth in the series since he became governor on January 15, 2020. It was therefore a continuation of what has come to define the leadership of Uzodimma. The meeting is unique on many fronts. It’s all about development of the state. It’s shorn of politics and politicking as even members of opposition parties were always in attendance to ask questions, make suggestions and listen to the governor give account of his stewardship. It is an accountability forum, a template worthy of replication in all states of the federation.

Uzodimma leadership style has continued to confound even his fiercest critics. He came to open the books. In Nigerian political leadership, there is a cultic consensus to keep the books closed; to keep the system opaque. Presidents, governors, legislators et al like to dwell in dissimulation and surreal secrecy. They delight in zero transparency. They harvest joy from covering the details. It’s almost pervasive in Africa. Leaders stonewall when it comes to giving account to their employers: the people.

But in the past two years, Uzodimma has tried to be different. He has kept the state ledger open for public scrutiny. He has chosen to tread a different path. He chose public scrutiny over secrecy. He elected to invite his constituents to peek into his activities. Uzodimma is of the All Progressives Congress (APC), But at that stakeholders’ meeting were politicians from other parties, technocrats, professionals and business people who have no political leanings. The agenda was Imo and development. The purpose was to table his report card before his people. No politics. No pesky character assassination of any political opponent. It’s just to let his employers (Imo people) into the state of affairs, to seek their input, advice, to hear their complaint and extract their buy-in into his development plan for a state that ranks among the table-toppers in sophistication, business success and academic excellence in the national matrix.

Simply put, what Uzodimma is doing is active public engagement. It’s a scarce commodity in the Nigeria leadership shelf. Leaders seldom engage the led in Nigeria. The conventional path is for the Governor to sit in his office and trot out his vision and his accomplishments. Not so Uzodimma. He stepped out of the comfort of his office. He came out to meet with the people; to hear their hearts’ cry; to drink from their pool of wisdom. No leader is a know all. Good leaders do not take the conventional path. They create their course. They set their goals. They are not tethered to the stumps of ‘this is how we used to do it.’ Especially when the conventional path had always led to nowhere but retrogression.

No good leader should lead from afar. Good leaders lead from within. They lead from among the people. This is what the regular public engagement with the people has offered Uzodimma: the privilege to feel the pulse of his people. From such engagement he could hear their hearts’ beat; he could feel their yearnings to Rescue, Recover and Restore what the locusts and despoilers have plundered from the state. And when he listed a good 33 items that must be recovered from his immediate predecessor, he could hear the people stamp their feet in tacit support. He could hear their warnings that he must never back off nor beat a retreat; that he should pursue and recover all. Indeed, there was need to recover all. And Governor Uzodimma has set out on the right path for the redemption of his people and his state.

Historically, Nigerian governors have a knack of covering the gravy, rotten trails of their predecessors even when they do not belong to the same political party. The incumbent simply cut a deal with the predecessor and all past sins are forgiven. The looter is allowed to go with his loot and the rot festers. Not so, Uzodimma. He’s on the side of his people. The people want the university built with state fund, about N40 billion, returned to the state. Uzodimma has done that. He considers the recovery of the university as one of the greatest achievements of his government. And why not? Imo is among the top states in Nigeria with highest number (relative to population) of tertiary institution graduates. At home and abroad, Imo drips with men and women who have distinguished themselves in science, technology, academics, wealth creation, and every human endeavour that demands high intellectual and innovation bandwidth.

According to him, the recovery of the K.O. Mbadiwe University for the Imo people was a major milestone. His words: “As you may well know, the university was built and furnished with taxpayers’ money of not less than N40 billion. Yet, an individual, abusing his office as governor, brazenly wanted to appropriate it to himself as a privately owned establishment.

“I am glad to report to you that by the second week of December, I received a Certificate of Ownership for the university on behalf of the Government and people of Imo State. Today, as we speak, that university is now the rightful property of Imo State.”

What Uzodimma has done and is doing in Imo is unconventional. The conventional would have been to protect his predecessor even when they differ in political ideology. The governor simply broke an unwritten code among his peers. The code is that governors do not expose governors. This unhealthy norm signposts governance in many states. But Uzodimma chose to break this crude and anti-people code for the sake of Imo people. It is a bold act deserving of commendation. And it speaks to the leadership philosophy of the governor: the people’s money must be used for the people.

Governor Uzodimma has earned rave commendations from notable Nigerians including Vice President Yemi Osinbajo, former governor of the state Ikedi Ohakim, serial digital entrepreneur Leo Stan Ekeh, Chief Emmanuel Iwuanyanwu, President of Ohanaeze Ndigbo Worldwide, Prof. George Obiozor, former IGP Mike Okiro, among others. They are in unison in their assertion that Imo is safer in the hand of Uzodimma. Just as VP Osinbajo noted when he visited Imo last year, Uzodimma has started well. He should stay the course because morning shows the day. He should continue to give to development what belongs to development, and to politics what belongs to politics.

In Nigerian political leadership, there’s always a rivalry between development and politics. It’s an unending battle, both at state and federal levels. In some states, politics wins over development which is bad. But in Uzodimma’s Imo, development triumphs over politics. This should comfort Imolites and all development-centric Nigerians.